Tag Archives: dovdox blog

Today’s issue of MMWR includes an interesting analysis of the prevalence of smoking among characters in top-grossing American movies. The statistics span 1991-2009, during which time the authors noticed an apparent trend: This report summarizes the results of that study, … Continue reading →

As everyone has already heard, there’s been a bit of a problem with the US egg supply. Today, the New York Times and other sources report that it’s getting even worse. Buried in the reporting is a pretty typical food … Continue reading →

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a new type of paint with a very impressive capability: it kills methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the bacterium that haunts the nightmares of many microbiologists. Unlike previous MRSA-killing paints, this one doesn’t seem … Continue reading →

In new work that just might be another proof of the ease of finding bizarre correlations, researchers at Texas A&M University have found that people who voted for the loser in a Presidential election may be less likely to kill … Continue reading →

On the last episode of TWiV, we talked about XMRV, a retrovirus that appears to infect some people. A couple of studies have found correlations between XMRV infection and diseases, including chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and prostate cancer. A couple … Continue reading →

There’s a longstanding debate in gyms around the world: is it better to do many repetitions (reps) of relatively low weights, or a few repetitions of relatively high weights? Different players in the fitness industry spend huge sums of money … Continue reading →

I bet a poster being presented today at the Ecological Society of America annual meeting is going to set off a loud discussion: Scientists currently performing field research in North Dakota have discovered the first evidence of established populations of … Continue reading →

The US Centers for Disease Control just published the latest statistics for obesity in the US. The results are, sadly, not the least bit surprising. The figure tells the story. US Obesity rates 2000-2009. Figure courtesy CDC.

There’s a fascinating post about “dolphin safe” tuna at Southern Fried Science today. It starts off like this: The commonly believed narrative about dolphin-safe tuna goes something like this: Lots of dolphins were being killed by tuna fishermen, outraged environmentalists … Continue reading →

Back in January, I blogged about the bizarre case of a woman who’d apparently caught gastrointestinal anthrax from a drumming circle in New Hampshire. Today, the CDC published its official report on the case, which makes interesting reading: A total … Continue reading →